Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having numerous overlapping coils or folds.
  • adjective Intricate; complicated.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Same as convolute.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having convolutions.
  • adjective Folded in tortuous windings.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Having numerous overlapping coils or folds.
  • adjective Complex, intricate or complicated.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective highly complex or intricate and occasionally devious
  • adjective rolled longitudinally upon itself

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • Please explain in detail because the last place you said the word convoluted you displayed your lack of wisdom while sounding like a certain leader of another country, a little delusional.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

  • The storyline is so very simple (how on earth do critics call it convoluted?) yet it draws you in nonetheless with compelling and characters completely invested in their roles.

    “Speed Racer” is one for the record books » Scene-Stealers 2008

  • Those who write about sex and sexuality from an ecclesial perspective are usually intellectuals, academicians and professors who approach the subject so abstractly in convoluted, scholastic language; a prime example of this would be John Paul II himself in his Wednesday talks on the Theology of the Body.

    David L. Schindler criticizes Christopher West's work with TOTB 2009

  • If they are near age 55 they will transition directly to Medicare for life … Unemployment benefits will be extended to the part timers and temp employees and length of unemployment will be extended … with over 1,000 pages written in convoluted language, released in. pdf-non searchable format, and held until 0830 on Friday - NOBODY - has read the entire bill …

    Matthew Yglesias » Is The Country Paying a Price for Anti-Earmark Fever? 2009

  • ETA: change the word convoluted to misleading, which is how the judge in the case described the language.

    - 2008

  • ZAHN: I think you so astutely described what that situation might be like on the ground, and I think you used the word convoluted, and you talked about the concerns about collateral damage.

    CNN Transcript Nov 20, 2001 2001

  • Despite its all-star cast, the original version was panned on its initial release, called convoluted and confusing.

    The New Wave, Still Rolling 2009

  • PROLOGUE THE HISTORY OF THE SECRET POLICE OF RUSSIA FROM the days of the czars to the present is quite convoluted, which is, perhaps, to be expected.

    Rostnikov's Vacation Kaminsky, Stuart M. 1991

  • The document, which critics of the plan describe as convoluted and skillfully worded, does not specify any dates for construction or even mention demolition.

    NYT > Home Page 2009

  • The references to the unnamed conflicting governments for whom the characters work recall the convoluted alliances countries formed and broke with each other during the Great War, but the lingering sense of devastation and trauma that the war left across Europe floats through the movie as well.

    The House Next Door 2009

Comments

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  • Uneccesarily complex or complicated. I know so many people like that.

    August 15, 2007

  • The health care system in this country is very convoluted.

    May 13, 2010

  • “Embedded within Chinese leaders' convoluted, yet vague statements to Washington about North Korea is a simple message: Talk with Pyongyang.” – AP

    Does “convoluted, yet vague” strike anyone else as being somewhat redundant, in that they probably made the statements deliberately convoluted so that they would be vague?

    April 14, 2013

  • "In sum, racial categories now in use are based on a convoluted and often pernicious history, including much purposefully created misinformation."

    Source: What Both the Left and Right Get Wrong About Race

    January 22, 2018